Who is the cheapest footballer in the modern era?

Never mind jumpers for goalposts, they pass for transfer fees sometimes - plus, brothers with the most international caps, players who've played at all 92 league grounds, and the first American footballer in England. Email knowledge@guardian.co.uk

Even at Millwall, Tony's couldn't help staring at the sight of a shiny new shellsuit.

WILL WORK FOR TRACKSUITS

"I'm obviously not the only person bored to death by the latest story on Chelsea's million pound player hit list, so for a bit of relief I'd like to know who is/was the cheapest player in modern football (not counting free transfers)," asked Monty Reeve.

We had a variety of answers on this one, most of them as far wide of the mark as a Jaap Stam penalty. Adrian Cooper got close with his tale of Guliano Grazioli, the 21-year-old who transferred from Peterborough to Stevenage, in 1998, for "three packets of crisps and a Mars bar," according to Borough manager Paul Fairclough. But, Adrian, this was merely a turn of phrase - the lad actually went in a loan deal.

Winner of the dubious title of "cheapest player in the modern era" goes instead to Tony Cascarino, who was plucked from the obscurity of Crockenhill FC and placed into the obscurity of Gillingham FC in 1982 - for a new strip and some corrugated iron.

Yes, after being passed up on by Millwall, Cascarino headed for Gillingham while his new club forked out £180 for a new Crockenhill strip and some bits and pieces to patch the ground up. "Think you'll be hard pushed to find a transfer for less than that," says Andy Kelly, and he'd be right. The irony is that six years and 76 goals later, the big striker was snapped up by none other than Millwall - for £200,000.

OH BROTHER

My friend Barrie Monks, a Manchester United fan no less, is keen to find out which set of brothers have the most international caps between them," says Ed Hoskin."He isn't sure whether it's the Charltons or the Nevilles, while I'm hoping it might be brothers who didn't play home games at Old Trafford."

We're not surprised he was wondering, Ed, it's fairly close. Gary Neville is the second most-capped player in the current England squad (behind David Beckham) with 68 caps to his name, while brother Phil has notched up a scarcely believable 50, to put them on a combined total of 118.

However they're not quite there yet, with the Charltons weighing in with a remarkable 141 caps between them. A large part of that is thanks to Bobby's 106 (a record before Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton pitched up), while Jackie's 35 don't hurt. But before you concede defeat Ed, remember Dutch brothers Frank and Ronald de Boer. They've got to find cupboard space for a massive 179 caps, after Ronald made 67 appearances for the Netherlands, while Frank is the nation's record holder with 112 caps.

"Has any player during their career played at all 92 league grounds?" asks Mikey Watts. "If not, who's notched up the most?"

Judging by the response from our readers, quite a few players have notched up the full set, among them current Weymouth gaffer Steve Claridge, Trevor Hockey of Birmingham City and Sheffield United, and former Shrewsbury Town player-manager Alan Durban. Interestingly, Shrews fan and self-confessed pedant Andrew Wilson points out that Durban (and presumably everyone else) failed to play on one League ground in England: "To whit Scottish League side Berwick Rangers, whose ground is south of the border."

Joining Andrew in pedant's corner is Dave Cohen, who correctly points out that although there are 92 League clubs, they are not the same every season. Dave believes that the record for League-grounds-played-on is held by Rochdale assistant manager Tony Ford, who notched up over 1,000 senior appearances as a player. "As far as I recall he played at 100 grounds and the only possibilities he missed out on were White Hart Lane, Adams Park and Boothfield Road," he says.

"With Tim Howard becoming the first American to be a part of a side that won the FA Cup," says Bobby Otter, "who was the first American to play professionally in England?"

According to Ajax Orlando FC, their president, Mark Dillon, was the first American to be handed a professional contract in Europe, let alone England, when he signed for Wrexham in 1977.

Meanwhile Phil Hartley correctly points out that Portsmouth's John Kerr, who came over in 1987, was the first American to play in England's top flight, while Adrian Coleman spotted that Sheffield Wednesday's John Harkes wasn't just the first American to appear at Wembley in 1991, but the first to play in the Uefa Cup (1992), the first to appear in an FA Cup Final (1993), and the first to score in a League Cup final, in 1993. Not bad for a soccer player, eh?

Can you help?

"In the 2003-04 season, Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup for the fourth consecutive season," says Kevin Dardis. "Has it ever happened before that one team beat another in a competition four years in a row?"

About this article

Who is the cheapest footballer in the modern era?

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 05.31 EDT on Wednesday 28 July 2004.
It was last modified at 05.31 EDT on Thursday 29 July 2004.
It was first published at 05.31 EDT on Thursday 29 July 2004.